temple services?

[aboyd]

If I hire a cleric to cast a spell, there is a chart in the PHB to determine the cost. However, what about when I need a cleric for non-spell work? They aren't listed in the hirelings table on page 105 of the DMG. In particular, I'm interested in what it might cost to:

1. bury a fallen companion in a graveyard
2. get "long term care" using the heal skill
3. have a mass grave blessed
4. turn low-level undead

Any pointers?

[FEADIN]

Bury is like a bless, a mass grave seems like a sanctify, long term care....maybe like a cure light wounds or moderate, for the turning it's more like an adventure and it can cost you more than the others.

[Jack Simth]

Originally Posted by aboyd

If I hire a cleric to cast a spell, there is a chart in the PHB to determine the cost. However, what about when I need a cleric for non-spell work? They aren't listed in the hirelings table on page 105 of the DMG. In particular, I'm interested in what it might cost to:

1. bury a fallen companion in a graveyard
2. get "long term care" using the heal skill
3. have a mass grave blessed
4. turn low-level undead

Any pointers?

Let's see....
1-3: As an Expert-1 can do all this (unless you want to include the Hallow spell or some such in there for 1 or 3), treat as a "Trained Hireling" or three for however long it takes, and you're fine.
4: Involves connecting a Cleric of some kind with the undead, and pretty much requires an actual cleric. That exposes the Cleric to some likely significant danger (or requires a very strong cleric), and should be rather expensive for either reason.

[Thanael]

A burial by a gravedigger alone is not the same as a burial with a priest residing over it. Even if he does not cast any spells.

But i could swear there are spells for this somewhere. I.e a burial blessing, a wedding ceremony. In 1E the spell was named ceremony. Or perhaps it was a feat?

[Jack Simth]

Originally Posted by Thanael

A burial by a gravedigger alone is not the same as a burial with a priest residing over it. Even if he does not cast any spells.

Priest vs. Cleric.

A Priest is a social role; a Cleric is a game-mechanics package. Any untrained hireling can grab a shovel and bury a body six feet under. For a funeral, though, you'll need someone who knows about local funerary rites (Knowledge(Religion) or Knowledge(Local)), someone who can give a moving sermon (perform(Oratory)) about the life of the individual, and someone who's decent at organizing things so that any support also occurs at the same time (Profession(Funeral Director)). An Expert can fit what game-mechanical aspects there are to a Priest quite well, thanks to the skills (any ten) and six skill points/level.